Abstract
Two kinds of marketed spices, cayenne- pepper powder (Shichimi- togarashi) and curry powder (Kare-ko), were tested as food for cigarette beetle larvae, Lasioderma serricorne (F.). When adults were introduced into newly purchased spices, second generation insects did not occur in most samples. Even 3rd or 4th instar larvae placed on the spices could not develop but died in the newly purchased spices. After one or three months of aging of the newly purchased spices, introduced adults produced second-generation adults, and larvae placed on the spices could emerge into adults. These results suggest that the newly purchased spices contained some factors to kill cigarette beetle larvae, and the factors would fade out during the aging periods of the spices under the air-exposed conditions.
